4-H was prevalent in our household growing up. Some of our fondest family memories with my father are attending rodeos and livestock shows together. From the time we were small children, we regularly traipsed through the LSU AgCenter “Cow Barn” to visit all the 4-H livestock shows, or attending home economics events, especially those with food involved. We would be actively engaged in some “teachable moment” 4-H activity and then my dad would quietly excuse himself for a few minutes. Almost before I knew he left, I was seeing him on a rodeo platform or stage being introduced and handing out awards from the best in show to the honorable mentions.
He never failed to have a genuine smile on his face. It was easy for him to take pride in every child’s accomplishments within the 4-H program. Alternatively, we would be visiting an experiment station and meeting the farmers and agents. Growing up in Baton Rouge, we did not have the rural or farming upbringing that Denver did. As a result, he was so pleased when I told him my High School Science Fair project was going to be on hydroponic seed germination.
One of his favorite pastimes was co-ed 4-H softball. This was serious stuff, and he was always willing to give it his all…until he tried to slide into home plate and tore his hamstring. Being in his 40’s at the time, he took quite a while to recover from that stunt!
Of course, these are just small snippets of how 4-H influenced our family. In thinking of what 4-H meant to my father, I can only say he embodied the motto of “To Make the Best Better”, and strove to live the 4-H pledge of Head, Heart, Hands and Health every day of his 92 years.
